


Cupcakes in the Library

by NikiBogwater



Series: Heroes About the House [2]
Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: Dad!Link, Family Fluff, Gen, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-22
Updated: 2019-08-22
Packaged: 2020-09-23 19:00:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,507
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20345101
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NikiBogwater/pseuds/NikiBogwater
Summary: Link bonds with his youngest daughter over cupcakes and life advice.





	Cupcakes in the Library

**Author's Note:**

> This is a purely self-indulgent work. I was overcome with a desire to write Dad!Link one day and this is what came of it. As such, it's a little less polished than my other works, but it does satisfy a particular craving of mine.

Zelda often called her youngest daughter her Silent Princess. The child was unusually quiet for a girl of nine years. She had little use for the eloquence and poetry often found among members of the royal court. Instead, she took solace in the silence of the castle library, the smell of old parchment, and the written words of ancient legends and histories. Her tutors struggled to drill into her mind the complexities of court etiquette and the manners and poise of a princess. Though the throne would pass to her older brother, the young princess would still be expected to address her people and give them comfort and council during times of strife. 

It was not that Niva didn’t want to be a good princess for her people. But it was a lot to ask of a child to be equipped with the words to meet every situation. Listening to people was just so much simpler than leading them. The words of old stories were much easier to recall than the words to pacify an angry noble or comfort a struggling peasant. Besides, she often found that words really weren’t that necessary to communication. Her father was a prime example of this. 

It was a hot afternoon in the middle of summer. Her tutors had given up early today, weakened by the heat and frustrated with her lack of verboseness. Niva had happily taken the opportunity to sequester herself in the castle library, bent over a dark wooden desk with a thick tome of old legends propped up in her small hands. It was cool and silent among the rows of bookshelves. While the collection was nowhere near what it used to be in Mother’s childhood, she and Father had gathered quite a number of texts during their travels around the world; scrolls and records, but also legends and folklore from distant towns. Niva buried herself in these stories, chasing away the remonstrations of her angry tutors, and filling her mind with words of history and myth, rather than politics and niceties. 

She was gently drawn from the world of fantasy by a hand on her shoulder and a kiss pressed into her hair. Father slid wordlessly into the chair next to her, a cupcake in each hand. He stuffed one into his mouth whole and set the other by her elbow, peering inquisitively at the title of her book. She shifted the tome so that the cover faced him. He hummed with interest and leaned forward, resting his cheek against his fist. His hair was damp, and he was still wearing his training gear. He seemed to have just come in from the courtyard. He read over Niva’s shoulder for a minute, taking in the tail end of a story about a Gerudo woman who fought evil alongside one of the ancient heroes. 

“Lady Riju gave us this one,” he said, after she had reached the end of the chapter. 

“It has a lot of strange words,” Niva commented, setting down the book and taking up the cupcake. “Like this one.” She pointed to a word near the top of the page. 

“It’s Gerudo,” Link explained. “_Sarqso._ It means ‘thank you.’” 

“I thought it did,” Niva replied, rubbing icing from her chin. “It was the only thing that made sense. Do you speak Gerudo, Father?” 

“Not really,” he confessed. “I only know a few words. Mother studied it while we were in the region. You could ask her to teach you.” 

“I don’t think I could learn it,” Niva said softly, looking down at her half-eaten cupcake. Link regarded her in silence for a moment. Feeling his gaze upon her, she continued. “I always have trouble learning words.”

“It’s not that,” Link replied after a pause. “You know more words than most children twice your age. It’s learning how to use them that’s the hard part.” 

“How did you learn?” she asked, taking another bite of her cupcake. They sat together in silence for a moment, as Link searched his memory. 

“I suppose by just....talking to people,” he said at length. “I went out into the world and listened to people, and I learned how to say what they needed to hear. But I’ve got a secret for you,” he added, and Niva leaned forward in interest. “Most people don’t need you to say a thing. It’s listening to them that’s hard. But that’s not so hard for you, is it?” He gave her one of his small, rare smiles, a proud look in his eyes. 

“I don’t like listening to Master Getsu,” Niva admitted. 

“Nobody does. He’s the wordiest old coot of all the Sheikah. But he’s the only one who remembers ancient Royal etiquette.” Niva giggled at her father’s brazenness. If Mother were here, she would scold him. There was another brief silence as the princess nibbled her snack. 

“Father,” she ventured hesitantly. “Do you....think I’m a good princess?” Link regarded his daughter thoughtfully for a moment, searching for the words she needed to hear. 

“Well, let’s see,” he began, leaning both elbows on the desk. “You’re very clever, you always try your best, you want to learn about Hyrule and its history, and you’re always kind to everyone you meet, even when it’s hard. So I think that makes you one of the best princesses in the world,” he finished solemnly. “What do you think?” 

“Master Getsu says that a princess needs to know what to say, and how to answer hard questions. He says she needs to know all the laws and how to punish people who break them.” Niva scrunched up her nose. “So I don’t think I’m a very good princess.” 

“Well, I suppose some of that is true,” Link conceded, distracted by the sight of Niva’s unfinished bite of cupcake. She handed it to him wordlessly and it promptly disappeared. “But I hope Master Getsu will forgive me,” he continued, licking icing off of his thumb. “for thinking that a princess who only knows pretty words and punishments does not sound like the kind of lady I would like to be friends with, much less the father of.” He fixed his gaze on Niva again, bolstered by the sense of a satisfied stomach. “You know, people used to say that Mother wasn’t a very good princess.” 

“They did?!” Niva gasped, bewildered by the thought. “But Mother’s so pretty and kind and smart, and she always wants to help people.” 

“All important parts of being a princess. Well, perhaps not so much being pretty. But sometimes, when people are trying to be their best, or encourage someone else to be so, they make out some things to be more important than they really are, and others less so. The people now love Mother for her bravery and kindness, but not everybody has always seen it that way. There will always be people who will tell you you’re not good enough. Sometimes those people can be right, and point out important flaws that need to be fixed. But often, it’s simply a case of them refusing to see what you are good for.” He paused, and regarded her fondly for a moment. “Do you remember a few weeks ago, when you visited the infirmary with Mother?” Niva nodded. “One of my knights was there with a broken leg. I saw him earlier today and he told me you came to his bed and gave him a care package. You hardly said anything to him, but he said the look of compassion and empathy on your face was something he had never seen from a girl your age. He told me he was glad that you were his princess.” 

“H-he did?” Niva fumbled, turning bright red. She hadn’t been meaning to look like anything during that visit. Master Getsu told her princesses needed to conceal their feelings in order to look strong. Link nodded.

“Even if there are things you’re not good at, there will always be people who love you for who you are.”

“Like you?” Niva prodded. Link looked a little surprised for a moment. She knew she was pushing her limits. Father didn’t like to talk about his feelings, and really, she didn’t need him to in order to know. But something in her wanted to hear it. 

“...Of course,” he answered after a pause, his face relaxing. An awkward silence followed, and Niva felt both happy and flushed at the same time. Link nervously cleared his throat and scratched his cheek. “W-well I need to get going.” He scooted his chair back with a loud screech and abruptly stood up. He patted her shoulder and moved to leave, but the sound of her voice stopped him. 

“Father?”

“Hmm?”

“I love you, too.” 

The rest of the world could talk itself breathless. Link and Niva saved their words for when it really mattered. Even so, a fond smile and a couple of cupcakes spirited from the kitchen often said more than enough in the years to come.


End file.
